welcome to the DETAILS

with Mid Mod Dream Homes

06 2024

Hello Modernists

It's National Homeownership Month - a cause we can all get behind.

When I left architecture school at NC State, I struggled with moving forward into practice. My grandfather, whom I have to thank for so much of my interest and curiousity in building science and design, had relapsed in his fight with cancer and passed just two months after graduating. That loss hit hard, and I turned to finding a way to honor him. I have vivid memories of working with him to repair rentals, build a clinic at the homeless shelter, and just watching him serve. So I took those experiences, and served with AmeriCorps for a year supporting new home construction and critical home repair with the Asheville affiliate of Habitat for Humanity. It was a profoundly positive experience - increasing my love for design detailing, housing, planning - but really solidifying my connection with people. Many of the volunteers I worked with still spend their retirement swinging a hammer, and offerring "a hand up, not a handout". It was empowering for all of us, but most importantly, those individuals, couples, and families who worked so hard to see their dream of a home or preservation of their home, become a reality.

That experience is now eight years behind me, but a recent sale in Arapahoe Acres really got me thinking about that time, again, as I was able to discuss Eugene Sternberg's work there, and his desire to design for community, and his interest in affordable housing. Much of the time, I feel we think of architecture as this exclusive right for those with means. But professional, good design and planning is and should be available for the masses. Frank Lloyd Wright approached affordable housing through his Usonian home designs. Eugene Sternberg did it here in Denver, designing homes in Arapahoe Acres, mainly on Marion St., and eventually left the project over a pricing dispute with Edward Hawkins. Sternberg served as the senior architect for the Mile High Housing Association project, a housing cooperative organized by a group of University of Denver faculty to provide affordable housing for professors and others during a time when low-cost housing was scarce.

This is all to say, great ideas and great design(ers), can serve (and have a responsibility to serve) a myriad of purposes and socioeconomic classes, including making housing interesting, healthy, and affordable - for everyone.

Thanks for tuning in.

-LAWRENCE LIPPARD

MID-MOD DREAM HOMES

the ARCHITECTURAL SPOTLIGHT

South Dahlia Lane | The Mile High Association Project

Eugene Sternberg (on the left in the below photo), as stated above, was the senior architect for the Mile High Association Project, a 32-house cooperative that was organized by a group of University of Denver professors to provide affordable housing options. They broke ground in 1950, and homes were offerred for about $12,000. This enclave of modernist homes were all financed under a single 40-year FHA loan - a new financing structure at the time - that was shared by all homeowners, and made the housing affordable for the professors and their families. They were not allowed to sell their homes for the duration of the loan, so families would swap houses as needs grew or shrank. This neighborhood was truly an embodiment of communal living. From Sternberg via BuckFifty.org:

"The physical design of Mile High Housing expressed, in concrete terms, my philosophy about housing. I felt strongly that houses were like people, they needed neighbors. I always preferred to design communities rather than single homes. Here I managed to put into practice some contemporary site design. The layout took care of the needs of the people who lived there for safety and intimacy."

The neighborhood took some cues from Arapahoe Acres, including a more organic street layout and site organization and plan placement to encourage community but maintaining privacy. The neighborhood is a desirable mid-century enclave, and current homeowners continue to maintain this neighborhood's character while bringing their own touches and additions.

For more information, visit Mid-Mod Dream Homes

the LISTINGS

CLIFF MAY COMING SOON | 2340 S LOWELL BLVD - HARVEY PARK

3/2 - 1472 SF | $775,000

LISTED BY HEIDI HEBB | MILEHIMODERN

EICHLER-INSPIRED SINGLE-LEVEL | 1477 S FAIRFAX ST - KRISANA PARK

3/2 - 1255 SF | $995,000

LISTED BY JEFF PIQUETTE | IRON WORKS REALTY, LLC

USONIAN OPPORTUNITY | 3033 7TH ST - BOULDER

3/2 - 2042 SF | $1,150,000

LISTED BY JONATHAN KRYSTINAK | ICON REAL ESTATE, LLC

the LIFESTYLE

Check out this episode of the podcast 99% Invisible, which discusses Frank Lloyd Wright's work on what is considered the first Usonian Home for Herbert & Katherine Jacobs:

99% Invisible - Usonia Redux

For more on 99% Invisible, visit: https://99percentinvisible.org

meet the AGENTS

Thank You for reading this month's issue of

the DETAILS | by Mid Mod Dream Homes

Lawrence Lippard

broker associate

m: 704.880.8291

lawrence.lippard@compass.com

Stephanie Kroll

broker associate

m: 303.345.5886

stephanie.kroll@compass.com

Follow us on Instagram:

@midmoddreamhomes

@lawrencewlippard

Ready to find your place?